


Comprehension

by whattheships



Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video), Mystery Skulls
Genre: Do not fear the feels sea, Feels, Lewis POV, Lewis is a misunderstanding baby, Seriously tho, Shiromori doesn't appear until later chapters, Wow, and you may scream all you like, but we love him anyway, drown you, just saying, let it take you, that video just
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-06-02 23:32:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6587617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whattheships/pseuds/whattheships
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set almost immediately after the Freaking Out video. Comprehension- the action or capability of understanding something. But how much will it take for everyone of the Mystery Skulls gang to FULLY understand?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Perspective

Lewis supposes he should have thanked the plant lady thing for helping him back to his anchor and restoring it and his love for Vivi back to the way it was. Maybe he’ll send her a fruit basket later. For now though, this transformed truck is going to be his backup plan. He knows Vivi and the others are a ways back on the road. They’re stationary so they’ve probably decided to stop for the night. He could turn around and head back to pick her up first but no. First thing’s first… Arthur. He couldn’t get to him the last time they all met, also he ran like Lewis expected him to, so… he needs to get Arthur to be complacent. 

He needs a WEAKNESS. He needs LEVERAGE! 

And where better to get that leverage than Kingsmens Mechanics. Arthur’s bound to have something in or around his workspace that would get him to listen to direction, if not for fear of said weakness. Dear old Lance was also quite the talker with his clients and customers while he worked. He might let something slip about Arthur that could be used. Eh if anything he’ll just take Galahad and hold him captive until Arthur listens to his demands. 

Cruel but effective. 

Also Mystery would kill him for messing with his best animal friend. But he was already dead so, small price to pay.   
The plan in his mind was simple. With the amount of distance he was covering he would arrive in front of Kingsmens Mechanics just as it was closing. He’d have one of the deadbeats cause a flat on one of his tires right in front of the shop. Kind-hearted Uncle Lance would be able to resist helping him out and changing the flat, hopefully at no charge. While he was busy, Lewis would snoop about, maybe ask a couple of questions about his ‘dear’ nephew. He’d get the leverage he needed and then he’d go when the tire was changed.

There was no way it could go wrong.

~.~

Just as Lewis predicted, the plan was going according to well… plan. The deadbeat caused a flat tire right in front of Lance’s face. Lewis, with a bit of magic to form a glamour over   
a human visage, bemoaned his ‘fortune’ and ‘luck’. Lance offered to fix it, no charge of course, which Lewis happily accepted. 

“So…. You’re a paranormal investa-thingy son?” Lance asked as he got to work. 

Lewis immediately moved over to the desk in the garage he knew was Arthur’s, “Of sorts.”

“Could tell. Truck has it written all over it.”

“Most people think ‘thug’ or ‘biker gang supporter’ when they see a truck like mine. What makes you think paranormal investigator?” he asked.

He knew the answer of course. 

“My nephew and his friend and her dog are paranormal detectives.” 

Friend? Not girlfriend? 

“Oh really?”

“Yep.”

“What are they doing now if you mind me asking? Traveling cross country searching for all things ghost?”

“Ahah! That’s what my nephew will tell you.”

“… Meaning?”

He noticed a picture sitting on the desk. Picking it up, he took a moment to stare. It was a photo of him, Vivi, and Arthur all smiling and laughing. This was taken just before he and Vivi got together. They all look so happy.

“I reckon that’s the reason right there in your hand.”

A picture is the cause? He raised an eyebrow at Lance in question. 

“Well not the… picture itself per say. But the contents of the picture sure influenced ‘im.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

As if he didn’t know. 

Lance got a sad look on his face, “Yeah… I don’t right know what happened… in fact the only one who could probably really say would be the big fella in purple in that picture,   
Lewis. But uh…. He’s deceased now.”

Lewis swallowed, even though he didn’t really need to. He could swear he could hear his heartbeat in his ears but... that wasn’t possible. 

“Basic gist from what everybody on scene told me is that Lewis apparently tripped backwards and fell off the cliff. Something happened to my nephew Artie, that’s the one that looks kinda like me by the way, that his arm was lost and their friend Vivi, the girl in blue, saw it all happen. Or at least most of it.”

“Why didn’t she tell then?” 

“… She doesn’t remember.”

Lewis felt a jolt pass through him… oh… right…. The magic. Whoops.

“The trauma was too great or something. Mind made her forget for her own good.”

“And… your nephew? Did he see?”

“Apparently yeah. But… his blood loss on his arm was too great. Too little blood made it to the brain to allow him to remember properly. He’s got bits and pieces but… not all of it.”

Lewis tilted his head. Was that the truth? Did he really not remember or was it a lie? Arthur didn’t like to lie to his Uncle though… it wouldn’t be like him to keep secrets or lie to him.

“God,” Lance continued covering his face sadly, “I remember going to see him and him wakin’ up for the first time…. He asked for Lewis… He wanted to see Lewis so badly… and I had to be the one to tell him that Lewis wasn’t ever comin’ back.”

Lewis swallowed again. 

“He screamed. Didn’t sob or cry just… outright screamed. When we, Vivi and I, brought him home from the hospital… despite being on strict bedrest, he snuck out… went straight to Lewis’ family, the Peppers… He begged them to tell him it wasn’t true… that Lewis was just asleep in his room or was angry with him or upset with him. Anything but the fact that he was dead. They couldn’t do it…. They couldn’t lie to him about it…. He broke again and they broke with him.”

His mamá and papá? Really?

“But yeah that’s what I think. He ain’t so much lookin’ for ghosts as he is looking for Lewis’ ghost.”

“Maybe…. Maybe not.”

He hoped he came across as a slightly sad client and not a concerned old friend.

“Ha…. I wish… he stopped sleepin’ after the accident and he fell asleep at his desk one day. His computer was open and pulled up on it was a map. Lewis’ face was plastered all over that map some places were crossed out, places that I know they had been already.”

But…. Arthur met Lewis not but…. However long ago it was… didn’t Arthur know who he was? 

“He also had a document up. The title was… more than a little heart breaking.”

“What did it say?”

“… Things to Say to Lewis When We Find Him. He didn’t just think he could find Lewis’ ghost, he was sure of it. And the first thing on it said, ‘Sorry I couldn’t be there for you’.”  
Lewis thought he was going to choke, if that was possible, “P-Parents! You said you and V-THIS Vivi brought him home… what about his parents?”

“Bah! Doctors are stupid as hell,” well that was a very Lance thing to say in Lewis’ opinion, “They called them first…. They didn’t give a damn that their son might as well be dyin’ on an opperatin’ table. Vivi was screaming at them for even attemptin’ to call them before callin’ me.”

Lewis let his head drop as Lance gave a long sad sigh, “Stupid sister of mine never realized what a good thing was. They didn’t care where he was or what was going on or if he was okay.”

“…. They never cared in the first place,” Lewis whispered to himself, repeating the words Arthur had told him so long ago.

“What was that son?”

“I-uh- said it SOUNDS like they never cared in the first place.”

“Prolly didn’t knowing them. She definitely lets that husband of hers influence her decisions and feelings too much.”

Lewis sighed softly. Soft chitters drew both their attentions to the desk. On it sat a little hamster. Galahad? 

“Oi! Galahad how did you get out of your container again? Sorry son, he likes to run and move so much he escapes his home.”

“No it’s fine… he’s adorable.”

There it was…. His leverage. All he had to do was grab Galahad and put him somewhere Lance wouldn’t notice or hear him. He reached out, giving Lance the impression he was going to pet him. As soon as his cold as death fingers touched his little head, Galahad was racing up his jacket sleeve, little paws and wheels racing across his arm to the point he squealed at the feeling. Lance watched in astonishment before collapsing into deep chuckles. Eventually, after more paws, wheels, squealing and chuckles, Galahad popped out onto his shoulder with a happy chitter and a nuzzle to his cheek. He scowled a bit at Lance who wiped a tear from his cheek.

“Sorry ‘bout that. It’s just… Galahad hasn’t done anything like that since Lewis died. In fact… He only did things like that WITH Lewis.”

Lewis sweated slightly as Lance put a finger to his chin in thought. The moment seemed to carry before Lance shook his head with a scoff, “He prolly just misses Lewis is all.”   
Lewis gave a mental sigh of relief as Lance finished up the tire change without another word.

“There ya are.” 

“Sure I can’t pay you?” he offered, even though he had no cash on him.

“Nah. Accidents happen. Just glad it happened in front of the shop.”

“Thank you again then.”

“Sure thing,” He approached and held out one big hand, “Alright Galahad. The nice man’s leavin’ now. You gotta come back so he can go.”

Galahad made a sad chitter and buried deeper in his jacket collar. He could use this… take Galahad who was too deep in his collar to really get out on his own. In the end he sighed and fished Galahad out with two fingers, “He’s right little buddy. I gotta go now.”

He placed Galahad down and pet his head again. He thanked Lance once more and got into the truck. Lance called out to him just as he was about to start it up.

“Hey uh…. Since you’re a paranormal… guy could you do me a favor?” Lance asked shyly. 

“Of course… what is it?”

“… if you see a spirit named Lewis Pepper floatin’ about… would you tell him that Arthur really misses him and that he would really like to talk to him?”

Lewis gripped the steering wheel tightly and smiled crookedly, “Sure thing.”

“Thanks,” Lance patted the side of the truck and waved as he drove off.

He drove a few moments, enough to get out of town, before dropping his disguise. His skull hit the top of the wheel a moment later… Shit… What was he going to do now? Things did not make any sense…


	2. Narrative

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters seem a little OOC but hear me out when I say that it's actually intentional and will be explained later.

Lewis made up his mind about an hour into mindless driving. He would talk to them both himself. Well… not himself. His made up, disguised self. Of course, he wasn’t entirely certain how well he would be able to talk to Arthur normal. Rage and hate still swirled sluggishly through his chest for the other young man. He could and would handle it though. There was no more room for mistakes.

 

He took a deep ‘breath’ and refocused back on the road… now…

 

Where the hell were they?

 

He had been driving around after them for a while now and he still hadn’t seen them. Had he passed them and he hadn’t even noticed? No that wasn’t possible. While the flower petals didn’t give Vivi’s EXACT location they sure gave him a wide radar to work with. And according to them, she was still nearby. He peered deeper out the windshield to see if he could spot the van.

 

Seriously… where?... He glanced at the rearview mirror.

 

Oh…. They’re behind him. That makes sense. Hmm…. He looked about on the road. There wasn’t too many people around. He could pull the same kind of trick he did with Lance. Arthur and Vivi wouldn’t be able to resist stopping to help. At least is Arthur’s morals were maybe still around. He called a deadbeat from his anchor and gave it quick easy directions. A second later he was pulling over onto the side of the road with something smoking under the hood. He quickly donned his glamour and hopped out, placing a hand on top of his head in what appeared to be frustration. The Mystery Skulls Van was coming up on his right behind him. They passed by him at a moderate rate.

 

“STOP!” he head the scream erupt from the open window.

 

The van came screeching to a stop.

 

“Vivi what? What is it?” Arthur yelled back in concern.

 

“Man on the side of the road. Hood’s smoking. Back up.”

 

A second later the van backed up, the passenger side window lining up with him. Vivi leaned out the window, “Hi there. Do you need some help sir?”

 

Sweet mother of Mary she was beautiful. He repressed his magical blush and smiled shyly, “It would be much appreciated.”

 

Arthur appeared a little to the right of her and smiled at him too, “No problem man. Just lemme get my tools and we’ll all be back on the road in no time.”

 

The rage swirled faster and harder in his rib cage yet… something was different about Arthur that pulled at him a bit. Maybe it was the way he walked, or the way he talked? The fake arm thing? Regardless, Arthur hopped out of the van, got his tools, and had the hood of his truck popped open before he could say another word. Vivi hopped out a moment later, letting Mystery out just after her. The dog whined at being woken up by his mistress.

 

“Don’t give me that. We’re stopping to help the man for a bit so why don’t you go pee and frolic in the grass for a bit.”   

 

Mystery glared at her. To keep up appearances, he pretended not to notice, “Cool dog. What breed is he?”

 

“Uh…” she looked about as she always did when she was about to tell a small lie, “Just a mutt.”

 

“Oh neat.”

 

They stood quietly next to each other. Lewis used ‘quietly’ as Vivi hummed quietly while he was just trying to keep his feelings in check and make sure he didn’t blurt his feelings and identity out to her. That would creep her out and make for a lot of explaining.

 

“That’s a pretty locket.”

 

He jumped at her sudden comment, “W-what?”

 

“You’re locket,” she pointed to his anchor, “I like it. It’s very pretty. Almost reminds me of someone I knew.”

 

“Oh… thank you…” subtle hints Lewis, subtle, “It was a gift from my girlfriend.”

 

“Oh wow! That’s so cute!”

 

She squealed happily for a moment, in ‘shipper-mode’ as she liked to call it, “What’s her name?”

 

“Ah um… do you mind if I… just don’t say?”

 

“Oh… right personal privacy and stuff. Sorry dude.”

 

“Oh no! It’s just… I miss her so much I’m afraid saying her name will make me nostalgic.”

 

“That makes sense. You must really love her.”

 

“Beyond compare to any other.”

 

Vivi gushed and cooed at the romantic line, “That’s so adorbs!”

 

Lewis chuckled shyly.

 

“Jesus Christ man! What did you do to this thing?” Arthur shouted over a moment later.

 

“Is it that bad Art?” Vivi shouted back.

 

“Ha! I’m surprised the entire engine didn’t explode to be honest!”

 

“Geez… what did you do?”

 

“Ah… I was ah….”

 

Subtle Lewis… be subtle but truthful… Oh! Idea!

 

“I was looking for ghosts.”

 

Vivi’s entire face practically became a spot light by how much she lit up at that statement, “REALLY!?”

 

“Uh. Yeah… well… a ghost in particular.”

 

“Ooo~! Which one?”

 

“Someone by the name of ah… Lewis Pepper?”

 

Vivi blinked and tilted her head, “Lewlew?”

 

A crash was heard a moment later. Both he and Vivi turned to the truck. Arthur was hunched over the truck engine, shaking harshly, knuckles of his real hand a bright white color.

 

“Arthur?”

 

“Why are you looking for him?” the blond asked him tersely.

 

“Ah…”

 

“Are you going to exorcise him?”

 

“What?”

 

“You can’t! You can’t do that! Not yet! Not at all even!”

 

“Art, Artie! Calm down!”

 

He immediately went into comfort mode, “Hey, hey easy man. I’m not going to exorcise him.”

 

“Then what do you want with him? How do you know his name?”

 

“I was asked to find him.”

 

“BY WHO!?”

 

“Arthur please calm down it’s alright!”

 

“It’s not alright Vivi!”

 

“Yes it is!”

 

“No it’s not! You wouldn’t understand!”

 

“You never explain it to me when you give that excuse!”

 

“You just… wouldn’t understand…”

 

She shrieked and threw her hands up, stalking away loudly before collapsing in the back of the van. Lewis had the biggest urge to go to Vivi but… seeing Arthur still shaking and mumbling to himself, glancing at the robotic prosthetic… he walked over to him first.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

 

“Please tell me you mean well with Lewis’ spirit. Please… I can’t…”

 

“I do. I promise.”

 

Arthur nodded slowly, “Vivi… she doesn’t understand.”

 

That sentence kind of made the swirl of anger slip back up, “So you’ve said. Why doesn’t she then?”

 

“I tried to explain it once… Tried to tell her what happened to Lewis… what really happened. She got this… weird look on her face and then promptly forgot the whole conversation. She reverted back as if I had never brought it up in the first place. Didn’t know what I was talking about when I tried to bring it up again. ‘What do you mean Arthur?’ she asked me, ‘we didn’t talk about anything like that.’ It happened the second time I tried, and the third. I figured it was best to just quit while I was ahead with that line so…”

 

“Oh…” well now Lewis felt bad. That was kind of his fault. How to make this right? What to say?… What to ask?

 

“Do you...” he began, “Do you know anyone by the name of Lance?”

 

Good start.

 

“Lance? Lance Kingsmen?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Yeah that’s my uncle. My mom’s brother.”

 

“You must be Arthur then. His Arthur I mean. I happened to have a flat in front of his shop and he told me a bit about you.”

 

“Well whaddya know…” Arthur laughed a bit.

 

“He asked me to find Lewis’ ghost to tell him to come see you.”

 

“That’s sounds like Uncle.”

 

Arthur wiped his nose on his sleeve and went back to the truck’s engine.

 

“Arthur.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“He also told me what he knew about what happened to Lewis.”

 

Arthur froze again.

 

“Can you tell me… fully, what happened that night? I may be able to track Lewis easier if you do.”

 

“I… don’t really know.”

 

He squinted a bit, “Are you sure you’re not lying?”

 

“Fucking Christ not you too! I don’t even know you!”

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“… I’ve had people look me in the eye and beg me to tell them what happened to 

Lewis. Begged me to tell them what happened. Said it would spare my life or some BS. They accused me of lying. Said I knew more than I was letting on! I really, really don’t know though! It’s there, the memory’s there but it’s not there at the same time! It’s not complete!”

 

“What… do you remember then?”

 

“Uh…” Arthur placed his hands on his head, “Walking with Lewis, down the cave, he’s in front of me. Mystery and Vivi have gone somewhere else… a different path I guess. And then… dark…. Then flashes of color. There’s… green and purple and blue and red… So. Much. Red. There’s screaming… loud, LOUD screaming. It’s my own scream… but it’s not at the same time… There’s white fur in front of my face then black… until I wake up against the blaring white of the hospital room with Uncle Lance at my bedside.”

 

“That’s it Arthur?”

 

“That’s it… that’s all of it… I didn’t even know Lewis was… gone until uncle told me. And Vivi didn’t remember anything, not even walking INTO the cave.”    

 

One thing seemed to stick up out of that conversation… Green… green… what was green that night? WAS there green that night?

 

“What are you hoping to accomplish by finding Lewis?”

 

“What?” His head shot up, “Did he tell you?”

 

“Yeah. You’re not sleeping. You’re searching constantly for him aren’t you?”

 

“I just… I NEED to find him.”

 

“With what intent in mind.”

 

“Mostly Vivi.”

 

Lewis jolted.

 

“She doesn’t remember so… I’m hoping… that if we find him, her memory will come back. She’ll remember how happy she was with him. How happy he made her. She’s losing even more of her memory of him every day. She hardly remembers his name anymore.”

 

“Great, handsome guy like you? Don’t you just wanna… scoop her up and keep her for yourself?” Oh that line hurt Lewis to say. But it would answer the question burning in his skull.

 

“Of course not! I would NEVER do that to them!” Arthur rubbed his nose with a sad smile, “Even if we both can’t remember now, she deserves to remember him and to be happy and in love with him.”

 

Lewis’ anchor about broke in two, “What about your happiness?”

 

“… My happiness doesn’t deserve to come first in this situation. My happiness should never come before theirs because it might come between them in a way I would never want.”

 

Lewis choked a bit and stumbled back a bit. Arthur didn’t notice, too focused on the truck.

_He could still be lying,_ his mind supplied.

 

Why would he though?

_He’s trying to trick you!_

 

How could he? He doesn’t know who Lewis is in this disguise.

_Don’t be a fool!_

 

There’s no way to be a fool in this situation! He quickly killed the anger, the rage, the revenge, if but for a moment to take everything in. To process it.

 

Arthur truly had no idea who Lewis was right now. The way it sounds he had no idea it was Lewis chasing him back and forth in the haunted mansion, with the intent to kill him for revenge. He’s been seeking Lewis out in ghost form so that he could reunite him and Vivi because her memory of him was fading. He didn’t WANT to come between them and steal Vivi for himself. Wait what? But then… why…? He WAS pushed off that cliff by ARTHUR but… why? Arthur’s memory of green from that night was tickling at his mind again… green… green… green…

 

He needed more information… he needed Vivi’s side of the story, whatever she could remember of it.

 

~.~

 

He found Vivi laying on her stomach in the back of the van, Arthur’s laptop open. He cleared his throat and she glanced.

 

“Hello again,” she said.

 

“Hey… feeling okay?”

 

“Yeah… sorry I… kinda blew up.”

 

“Any reason for that?”

 

He sat on the edge of the van. Vivi glanced back at the computer screen, “I guess… it’s cause Arthur was kinda right. I probably wouldn’t understand.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Several of my memories don’t seem like they’re mine anymore. Or they’ll be like mine but different as if something’s… missing. Arthur’s tried to bring something to my attention several times now but it’s like… I forget as soon as we finish talking about it. I forget we even talked in the first place for some reason.”

 

“Can I ask you what you remember of the cave incident?”

 

“The one where Artie lost his arm?”

 

“Yeah that one… what do you remember.”

 

“Um… hardly any of it. I don’t remember even stepping INTO that cave. I just remember stepping OUT of it. Racing after Arthur on the stretcher as another stretcher passed by. It had something on it but I don’t remember what.”

 

So Vivi remember the stretcher with the body bag on it for him.

 

“I’m very sorry to ask you all this. I’m sure it must be hard.”

 

“Why are you asking anyway?”

 

“Arthur’s uncle Lance asked me to find Lewis Pepper’s ghost for him. I was hoping any information on that night might give me a clue to his ghost’s whereabouts.”

 

“… Lewis… yes that’s his name… I almost forgot it again.”

 

Arthur was right. The magic Lewis cast didn’t make her forget just his death, it’s causing her to forget him altogether. Fuck that was a screw up! His bad! He noticed Vivi had the map of the surrounding area pulled up on the laptop.

 

“That must be the map Lance told me about.”

 

“Oh yeah… Arthur doesn’t know I know about it. But it has his face on it,” she traced her fingers over one of Lewis’ face, one of the last yet to be crossed off, “It helps me remember him.”

 

“So these are the places you’ve already checked then?” he motioned to the crossed faces.

 

“Yeah. Still nothing yet.”

 

He pointed to the face of his ghostly self, “And this?”

 

“A malevolent ghost. It tried to kill Arthur. He always was the best bait but… it was just going too far in my opinion. I wished I could have helped them crossover.”

 

“Why is it on here though?”

 

“… I don’t know to be honest.”

 

He hummed and she sighed, closing the map and laying her head face down in her arms. He smiled at her, almost reached out and touched her when he noticed something else. The desktop back ground.

 

He remember this picture too. His parents, his sisters, Arthur, Vivi, but… he should have been in it too. Where was he? Did Arthur Photoshop him out? No… now that he looked more carefully he could see the magic lazily and lightly swirling around the area where he used to be. The magic connected in small, invisible strings to Vivi’s eyes…. What?

 

Missing memories… memories that weren’t her own…. Shit! His magic and Vivi’s efficiency in her own magic were mixing together! The spell was amplified! His magic and her magic made a stronger spell that caused her to, not only cause her to slowly forget EVERYTHING about Lewis, but to change her surroundings to match her memories to ensure they would never return!     

 

Goddammit he had to fix this fast! Else he would be lost from her memories forever! Jumping out of the van, he stopped short. Mystery was sitting on the asphalt…

 

“Uh… good doggy?”

 

“Don’t play dumb. You know I know who you are,” the dog replied back.

 

He glanced back at Vivi, Mystery waved him off, “Don’t bother. She’s asleep.”

 

He breathed a sigh of relief, “Hey to you too Mystery.”

 

“I take it you’re finally figuring out what’s going on Lewis?”

 

“Uh… sort of? Maybe?”

 

“Hmm,” the dog hummed as they both stood side by side watching their two oldest friends, “You went to Kingsmen Mechanics… why?”

 

“… I thought I could get leverage over Arthur. To get him to comply and just… I don’t know, kill himself? Become my slave?”

 

“What would you have used?”

 

“Uh…. Galahad?”

 

The dog’s eyes blazed, “Lewis that’s just cruel!”

 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t do it okay?”

 

“So how did ‘finding leverage against Arthur’ go?”

 

“Lance revealed some… shocking revelations.”

 

“Arthur’s sorrow? His desperation?”

 

“… Yeah.”

 

“And?”

 

“I thought I’d come to ask them myself. Arthur really doesn’t remember anything, does he? Not about what really happened anyway.”

 

“Correct, for good reason of course.”

 

“And the spell I cast mixed with Vivi’s magic to create a more dangerous spell? One that warped her memories and the outside surrounding her memories?”

 

“Also correct. You are more powerful than you seem Lewis.”

 

“… You know what happened. Fully without blocks or fuzziness.”

 

“You’re deduction skills are quite on point today.”

 

“What did happen Mystery? I remember one thing but no one else can fully back up that story.”

 

“I can’t tell you. Not yet.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“I just… can’t. To tell you would be diving into HUNDREDS of years of my history. Which I only wish to tell you when we are all back together with the correct memory.”

 

“Mystery!”

 

“I will tell you this… Your memory of the event is NOT fully correct. It’s not wrong but it’s not right.”

 

Lewis grumbled, “Cryptic bullshit…”

 

Mystery snickered softly while Lewis smiled slightly. Arthur popped up from under the hood a moment later.

 

“Dude… I’m sorry but this is going to take at least a few hours to fix,” Arthur bemoaned.

 

Jeez what did that deadbeat do to the truck engine? Vivi woke up to Arthur’s yelling with a slight smacking of her lips.

 

He smiled a bit, “That’s alright. I was thinking of taking a bit of a break from driving anyway."

 

“We’ll stick around too,” Vivi smiled, “No way we’d say we’ll help fix the truck then just leave you here alone when it turns out to be a bigger job.”

 

“Thanks. I really appreciate it!”

 

“This is good,” Mystery whispered in his mind, “You can take this chance to talk with them more. To hopefully help sort out your memories of the cave.”

 

“What should I do?” he asked back.

 

“Just talk to them. And read between their lines. Use each other to bounce memory fragments off of until it becomes whole again. Trust me.”

 

He trusted Mystery more than anything. He trusted Vivi too. And if they thought Arthur could be trusted then there was no reason not to trust him as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my good buddy pal bestie friend Bunnii for beta reading this chapter too!


	3. Reading Between the Lines

Turns out that the beat had somehow fucked up the transmission without even really trying. Lewis apologized, reluctantly however, for putting Arthur through the trouble of fixing it. Arthur waved it off with a small grin, saying he liked a challenge. Lewis kind of figured he would say that. It’s what he always said to those they stopped for who had bigger jobs than a flat tire or a need for oil. Vivi invited him to sit in the back of the van with her. He agreed and they talked all things ghost, whether it was ghost hunting or just favorite songs about ghosts. Lewis had to admit… it almost felt normal.

“Oh! So, so I have to ask,” Vivi started, bouncing slightly, “what’s your favorite movie… with ghosts in it?!”

“… Am I allowed to say Beetle Juice or Ghost Busters?” he asked back.

“No! You gotta be more creative than THAT!”

Hmm…. What was that one movie he liked when he was alive? Oh yeah!

“Probably Ghost Rider with uh… what’s his name? Cage! Nicolas Cage!”

“Pfft! Really?”

“Yeah!” He puffed up a bit, “What’s wrong with that?”

Oh boy here comes the constant teasing, as usual.

“Oh nothing, nothing~! It’s just a bit dorky that you like a Nic Cage movie!”

“Hey!”

Vivi giggled loudly and proudly. Lewis on the other hand huffed and scoffed, crossing his arms in an offended manner.

“No respect for the classics these days…” He mumbled.

“Seriously though,” Vivi continued, now completely calm, “It’s cool you like Ghost Rider. In fact if I remember correctly that was-”

She suddenly stopped. Her face got a funny look to it for a moment before she blinked and smiled up at him again, “So what’s your favorite color?”

He blinked and stared at her for a moment. She blinked and tilted her head in question, “Something wrong?”

“You… you were about to tell me something before just stopping…”

“Was I? Oh sorry! That must have been a mini blackout. I can’t even remember what I was going to say about that anyway.”

He tilted his head again, “Oh…. Anyway, favorite color you said?”

“Yeah!”

“Purple actually. Well more of a mauve.”

“So specific! And sophisticated!”

“Haha! Well…”

“That was-”

The glassy look was back. Lewis quickly studied Vivi’s face. Eye’s tinted slightly pink, the memory she was recalling suddenly vanished from her mind as quickly as it came to her. She blinked and shook her head before looking back at him. She blinked again.

“I blacked out again didn’t I?” She meekly asked.

A twinge hit him. Something was off. He nodded sadly as she sighed.

“They come closer and closer together these days…” she murmured.

“Perhaps it’s best we stop for now then?”

“Yeah,” she rubbed her temples, “Yeah… I’m getting a bit of a headache anyway. Thanks for talking to me but I need some medicine, a super-duper deluxie-lux sandwich, and a nap!”

Lewis chuckled loudly as she headed deeper into the van. He started walking slowly towards the truck, Mystery caught up with him quickly.

“The magical suppression's so bad that it won’t even let her begin to recall me,” he whispered to the not-dog, “One minute the memory’s there, the next it’s gone. She calls it a ‘blackout’.”

“I suspected as much. Did you notice anything else about her?”

“I don’t really know Mystery. I mean… she seems… Off? But I can’t seem to place how she’s off.”

“Hmm… perhaps you’ll have better luck with Arthur then?”

“Do I have to talk to him right now?”

“Lew-is!”

“Fine…”

He walked swiftly over to where Arthur was elbow’s deep in the front of the truck, mumbling to himself about the oil level or something… He cleared his throat quietly, to calm his nerves.

“Hey man!” he called.

Arthur let out a near inhuman shriek, screaming, “THE BLINKY THING MEANS TURNING!”

The blond blinked and looked around, as if forgetting where he was, before training his eyes on him, mumbling a near silent, “Oh hey...”

Lewis let out a tiny snort through his nose, breathing out a silent laugh. Holy shit that was hilarious!

“… Please don’t tell Vivi what you just saw…”

“No guarantees.”

“Dammit that’s not cool!” Arthur yelled.

Lewis jolted at that. Wait a second…

“Anyway what do you need? I’m kinda busy right now?” the living man asked snippily, going back to the truck.

“I was… hoping to ask you a few questions.”

“I’m. Busy. Can’t it wait?”

Lewis jolted again… That doesn’t seem right.

“You sir,” he began, pointing at Arthur, “Are being quite rude.”

Arthur blinked, “Am I?” He placed a hand on his head as if trying to recall something.

This wasn’t quite right… Arthur could never talk to strangers that way. He was always too shy. It was always the reason Lance handled the snippy customers at the shop and Lewis and Vivi had to order for him at restaurants if the wait staff for their table was being persnickety. He was always too nice to be rude to those he didn’t know. 

So why was he being rude to Lewis, a guy who he (intentionally) didn’t know?  
Vivi came out of the van at that moment carrying a sandwich that was at least 3 feet high on a plate. That’s definitely a super-duper deluxie-lux sandwich alright. She spotted his face before turning to Arthur, using his face as a point of reference to what all the ruckus was.

“Were you yelling at the nice man?” she asked in a shout.

“So what if I was?” Arthur sassed back.

Vivi placed her free hand on her hip, mouth opening in shock, “Arthur!”

“What the hell!? Why are you yelling at me!?” Arthur yelled back.

Yelling…? That… that wasn’t normal…

“I swear sometimes it’s like you’re a different person than you were!”

“Like you can’t say the same damn thing Vivi!”

A different…. Person?

It clicked.

Personality! That’s what was off about them both! Their personalities weren’t correct to what he remembered! He watched with intrigue as the two traded a few more barbs. It all made sense. Arthur wouldn’t yell at Vivi or be rude with strangers. Vivi wouldn’t be meek and apologetic or yell at Arthur either. That wasn’t them… This wasn’t them… Their personalities must be changing due to a lack of correct memories! He voiced the thought in his head to Mystery mentally. The dog nodded a bit, confirming his theory. This… was much worse than he originally thought it was.

Eventually his two friends (could they even be called that right now because really they didn’t seem like the friends he knew a loved) separated with a final shriek and grunt of anger. Vivi stormed back into the van with her sandwich and Arthur furiously got back to work on the van. He cleared his throat again, loud enough to not scare Arthur again. Funny as it was, he didn’t need it happening again right now.

“Rocky friendship?” he asked.

Arthur sighed, the anger seeming to leave him immediately, “Yeah guess you could say that.”

“What made it change?”

“Hmm… I guess the change started right about when Le-”

Arthur stopped, his eyes went glassy, face frozen and blank. It was just like Vivi did… what? Afterwards, just like Vivi, Arthur blinked before turning back to him.

“Did you need something else?” he asked, as if they weren’t about to have a conversation about Lewis.

“Uh… no. I’ll-I’ll let you get back to work!”

Arthur shrugged and went back to work while Lewis quickly spun on his heel and swiftly approached Mystery.

“Arthur had a blackout,” he hissed to the dog.

“What?” Mystery asked astonished, “That’s not possible!”

“I just watched him go to talk about me and then his face got that frozen glassy eyed look just like Vivi. One minute memory there, next it’s gone. Pretty sure it’s possible at this point!”

“No, no! I’ve been helping to keep the magic off of Arthur as much as I can. He’s only had a few memory blackouts in his sleep! There’s no possibility of him having one when awake!”

“Mystery I just watched it happen!”

Mystery growled lowly and scratched at his eyes in a typical dog fashion, “This isn’t right… something’s changed… something’s gone wrong…”

“What could it be?” Lewis asked.

“I don’t know exactly.”

Lewis groaned and shrugged, “What do you know then?”

“That this blackout thing for Arthur hasn’t happened before today! Perhaps… speaking with you, even in disguise, is speeding up the memory loss?”

“Any way you can find out for sure?”

Mystery thought for a moment, “I’ll do a bit of magical research on their signatures. We’ll meet up again in a few hours, I’ll put them both to sleep for safe measure, and we’ll discuss what’s going on and what I’ve found out.”

Lewis perked. Did that mean…?

“No I will not yet be telling you what happened in that cave that night.”

“Mystery!”

“Not. Yet. Patience Lewis. Patience.”

Lewis snarled in upset as Mystery pranced away with all the realism of a normal dog. He took a deep breath and sighed deeply through his fingers…

Dammit Mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Bunnii who has basically been made my Beta Reader for this entire story. Love you friend!


	4. Reread the Paragraph

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to Bunnii for proofreading.

The hours passed slowly. Far too slowly for Lewis’ liking. He asked Vivi to come and talk to Arthur with him, partly to see if any of their interactions were normal anymore and partly to see if Vivi would pick up on Arthur’s speedy memory loss. Also having her nearby when he was around Arthur made him much, much calmer. To say it was an interesting conversation would be an understatement.

 

To say it wasn’t a somewhat sad one was a miss by a mile.

 

Arthur’s memory was much worse compared to what it was when he spoke with him just a short (and really for him it was quite short) 10 minutes ago.

_“So Arthur,” he had begun one time, “Have you called your uncle in a while? He seemed to really miss you.”_

_“Why would I call Uncle Lance? I haven’t seen him since last Christmas,” Arthur had said._

_Lewis and Vivi both froze before Lewis quietly told him, “Arthur you live with him….”_

_“No I don’t,” Arthur had argued back, “I live with my parents.”_

_That made Lewis really almost choke on his own bones._

_“No Arthur, no. You don’t,” Vivi had said softly, “You haven’t lived with them since you were almost twelve.”_

_“I-I haven’t?”_

 

Why did Arthur forget that he wasn’t living with his parents? Lewis didn’t…. oh… he prompted him to talk to Lance to see about moving out of the house and in with Lance. In his mind, Lewis is starting to slowly not exist so to him… that conversation never happened. Oh that’s bad.

_“The hamster was cute by the way,” Lewis said._

_Arthur had lit up and reared around with a bright smile, “Hamster? What hamster? Where? I love hamsters!”_

_“You know… Galahad.”_

_“Gala-who?”_

_“Galahad. You’re little hamster at Lance’s?”_

_A_ _rthur laughed, “Dude I don’t have a hamster! Uncle Lance doesn’t even_ like _hamsters.”_

_“Arthur what’s going on?” Vivi had said, tearing up, “Why are you saying you don’t remember Galahad? You love Galahad!”_

_“I-I-I don’t have a hamster named Galahad, Vivi. Do I?” Arthur seemed unsure._

 

Lewis rubbed his skull sadly. He had gotten Galahad as a present for Arthur’s sixteenth birthday. Lance hadn’t been happy but couldn’t say ‘no’ when Arthur smiled brighter than the sun. Now Arthur couldn’t even remember the little guy.

Vivi was quickly catching on to Arthur’s lack of memories. After two hours, nothing that either of them had said that had related in any way, shape, or form to Lewis had been recalled by Arthur. Galahad, Lance, that one girl from sophomore year that Lewis had prompted Arthur to go out with before he decided he was too uncomfortable with the way the girl was coming on to him. All of it was vanishing faster than either he or Vivi could control. It was unnerving and, quite frankly, maddening.

 

Lewis covered his face and screamed as loudly as he could without alerting the other two of his mental deterioration. Where was Mystery…? This needed to be resolved now!

 

“Jeez,” Arthur said loudly.

 

He peeked over to where Arthur and Vivi were standing. Curiosity full focus on the two of them.

 

Arthur was rubbing at the shoulder of his left arm… the one that was missing.

 

“What’s up now Artie?” Vivi asked.

 

“I don’t think it’s anything bad it just I can’t feel my arm. It must’ve fallen asleep or something while I was working.”

 

“Probably. Just shake it a bit I guess. It should wake back up once blood flow gets back into it.”

 

Lewis nearly screeched in agony. Arthur AND Vivi couldn’t remember that Arthur no longer had a real human arm. They were probably just seeing it as a regular arm.

 

Fuuuuuuuck where was Mystery!?

 

~.~

 

Lewis lost track of time while trying not to go out of his mind. Mystery finally reappeared after what felt like an hour or two. A quick spell sent Vivi and Arthur into a deep sleep. Lewis gently picked both of them up, yes Arthur too, and carried them to the van. After tucking them in next to each other and closing the vans doors, he dropped his glamour and floated up to meet Mystery on the roof of the van.

 

“Shit I’m glad you’re back,” he told the not-dog, “I was about to go insane.”

 

“Did anything major happen while I was gone?”

 

“Well Arthur lost basically all memories connected to me in the course of ten minutes so there’s that.”

 

Mystery growled lowly.

 

Lewis blinked, “Please tell me you found something and that growl was not one of frustration and anger.”

 

“I found that… The magical super spell that you and Vivi created is… not causing Arthur’s rapid memory loss.”

 

“W-What about meeting me? Or being around me?”

 

“No. I checked that too. They’re not related. Arthur’s mind doesn’t even recognize you right now.”

 

Lewis groaned and covered his face.

 

“Lewis.”

 

Lewis looked up to Mystery. The not-dog was looking off into the distance as if thinking about something hard.

 

“It’s clear….” Mystery took a breath, scratching his ear a bit, “It’s clear Arthur’s rapid memory loss is coming from an outside source that’s not you or Vivi.”

 

“Right?”

 

“That means it’s from something outside BEYOND the two of you or me that I can’t trace back.”

 

“Okay?”

 

“Lewis,” Mystery fixed him with a stare, “Can you think of anything…. ANYTHING at all that you might have said or did that would cause this to happen? I mean anything. Did you cast a spell on something? Did you talk to anyone besides Lance? Did you maybe change something around Arthur’s home locations? Places he’s comfortable with?”

 

“No! No… I don’t think so…”

 

“Lewis please think back. It had to have happened a little before you found us this time.”

 

Lewis took a moment to think… was there anything he did out of the ordinary before going to Kingsmen mechanics? Oh yeah! The plant lady!

 

“Well there was one thing out of the ordinary that I did… I think?” The specter said, scratching his chin.

 

“Really? What was it?”

 

“I-”

 

A crash from Lewis caused them both to jump. They both whipped towards the sound. Mystery froze and whined lowly as Lewis looked on in shock.

****

**_“I FOUND YOU MUTT!”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should put a special note here detailing something about the story that is kind of unknown. I do post this story onto my Tumblr. As such, I post updates about chapter postings and delays I might be experiencing at the time. So if you guys wanna check for updates or comments or whatever just head on over to my Tumblr. allhailtheweebqueen.tumblr.com and you can click the link labeled 'fic stuff' to see stuff about my fics. Kisses~


	5. Context Clues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo it's been a while...... sorry! I started college back and things have been hectic trying to get back into a routine that satisfies working, college, and free time!

Mystery whined and backed as far behind Lewis as he possibly could without phasing through him. The plant lady from before was snarling at them, a sadistic grin painting her face and a lotus blossom growing in her palm. Lewis blinked his eye sockets at her. Why was she here? How did she know Mystery? What was going on?

 

“Mystery, that’s the plant lady. What’s the plant lady doing here?” he turned to ask.

 

“The plant…? You know her?” Mystery asked back.

 

“I was just about to tell you that I met her before I came to find you. She woke me up from my sleep after you guys left. I found her with my anchor, broken and blue, in her hand.”

 

 **“I really must thank you for that,”** her voice echoed eerily, **“Thanks to your… connection, you led me right to him. Just as I had hoped.”**

 

“What!?”

 

“You used him to get to me!?” Mystery roared in anger.

 

**“Oh come now. That’s not enough credit. I didn’t use JUST him after all. The little blond one came in quite the handy as well.”**

 

“Arthur?” Lewis whispered quietly.

 

The plant lady chuckled, **“And my, what the pun I made. Handy. Get it?”**

 

She threw down something long and green onto the ground, **“HANDY?!”**

 

Mystery whined loudly at the sight of it. Lewis took some time to investigate it. It was long and slender, the color a sickly green. The base of it was mangled as if ripped by a large amount of force and teeth, a bit of bone and muscle falling out of it. It used its legs(?) to push up its head and look up at Lewis and Mystery with one eye. The black bit around its neck(?) really caught Lewis’ attention. It was made of some sort of fabric and looked a lot like…

 

Lewis mind flashed to Arthur. Specifically, Arthur’s arms.

 

He always wore black wrist sweatbands whether the arm was real or fake.

 

Lewis thought he was going to be sick in that moment. It was not its legs but its _fingers_. Not its neck but its _wrist_. That _thing_ is Arthur’s arm, his old one.

 

“It’s alive…” he murmured in a queasy voice to mystery.

 

“Yes…”

 

The ALIVE severed arm freaked out at the sight of both of them before using its fingers to try and retreat back.

 

**“Oh don’t be shy little one. After all, you did so much for the NICE ghost when he was alive didn’t you?”**

 

Everyone sat frozen for a moment before a sound below Lewis and Mystery caught everyone’s attention. Vivi pushed the door to the back of then van open, rubbing her eyes sleepily, “What’s going on?”

 

She caught sight of the arm on the ground looking back at her and shrieked, “What is that!?”

 

 **“Oh there you are,”** the plant lady cooed, **“The little girl that the mutt imprinted on.”**

 

“Mystery?”

 

“Shiromori, leave her be!” Mystery growled out.

 

Oh that’s her name.

 

**“Now, now you know I can’t get to you so long as she exists to be your imprint. All you have to do, little girl, is say you turn him over to me. In exchange you get to keep your miserable little life. A good deal, ne?”**

 

Lewis peeked down over the roof of the van to see Vivi puffing up, face turning red with anger, “I don’t know who you are… and I don’t really care. But there’s no way in hell you’re getting MY dog!”

 

Shiromori’s sadistic grin turned into a malicious frown. Seeing the way she reared back, Lewis made a split second decision. Grabbing Mystery by the collar, he swung the two of them down from the roof and into the van, pushing Vivi back into it. He gently tossed Mystery beside her before turning and slamming the door shut and keeping his weight against it just as Shiromori was reaching it. The van rocked as she slammed against it.

 

He turned and looked back at Vivi, realizing last minute that he was sans disguise. Vivi gasped and moved her arm in front of Arthur, who was still dead to the world. He took a small breath through his nasal aperture.

 

“There’s no time to explain. Get into the driver’s seat and drive. As fast and as carefully as you can Vivi,” he told her.

 

She jolted at the sound of her name, “How did you-?”

 

“Vivi please! Mystery and I will explain later. But right now we need to go!”

 

The van rocked again as Shiromori slammed into it again. Lewis struggled to keep his weight against the door.

 

“Hurry!”

 

“Right!” she jumped into action. Diving into the front seat, she started the van and abruptly took off down the road, gas pedal on the floor. Lewis moved off the door as soon as he was able, sighing as he sat on the floor of the van. Mystery was staring at the back of the van.

 

“She won’t stay gone long,” he whispered, “now that she has my scent, she won’t let it go.”

 

“How do you know her?” Lewis asked.

 

Mystery hesitated for a moment, “Remember when I said, hundreds of years of my history?”

 

“Uh… yes?”

 

“SHE’S the hundreds of years of my history.”

 

“Oh…”

 

“Enough about that though, you said you’ve met her before?”

 

“Yeah. She was holding a lotus blossom, like she was back there, and my locket.”

 

Mystery huffed a sigh, “She was using your anchor to find your connection with me and then use it to track me. That lotus blossom you saw was the tracker. When she blows the petals off the blossom, they immediately seek out whoever the flower represents. That is what makes her so powerful and so dangerous.”

 

“Okay whoa!” Vivi suddenly shouted from the front, “You both know her. Mystery, you know him. And he knows you back. You both also know who I am. But I am the only one who seems to not know both her,” she reached back to point at Lewis, “AND you!”

 

Lewis held up his hands hopefully, “Vivi, you DO know me.”

 

“No I don’t!”

 

“Vivi please!” he begged, “It’s me! It’s Lewis!”

 

“Oh NO! Don’t you try that with me! I may not remember much of Lewis but I DO remember that there is no way, not even if hell froze over and polar bears started living there, Lewis would try to kill Arthur the way YOU did!”

 

Lewis sighed before pulling his anchor off his chest and holding it out, “Please just take this. Hold it for a moment! You’ll remember everything!”

 

“I don’t trust you!”

 

“Also that’s not a good idea for her to do while driving!” Mystery butted in.

 

“Oh… right,” he put the anchor back for now.

 

Mystery turned back to Lewis, “Okay, now that we’re all fairly calm for the moment…”

 

“Speak for yourself!” Vivi shouted.

 

“What do you remember about your encounter with Shiromori?”

 

“Uh… holding the things, lotus and anchor. I punched her head off and took the anchor back. I thought she was dead but then she started to… what should I call it?”

 

“Regenerate?”

 

“Yeah that. I thought we were going to fight but then she looked frantic, blew the petals off the lotus, and disappeared under the ground.”

 

“Is that all?”

 

“No… There were flowers on the ground near her.”

 

“Flowers? What kinds?”

 

“Yes because I got an A in Horticulture class…”

 

“Um…”

 

“Didn’t Lewis actually get an A in horticulture class?” Vivi piped up.

 

“Oh right…”

 

Mystery motioned for him to be quick about his answer. He huffed, “Give me a second, been a while. Uh… purple rose… orange sunflower… and blue iris. I think.”

 

“ _Think?_ ”

 

“Mystery it’s been a fucking while please lay off!”

 

“Sorry, sorry! And?”

 

“The rose didn’t mean anything to me but the iris made me feel… so calm and happy. I picked it up and I just knew that it was…” he cleared his throat and gestured to the woman driving the van, “You know.”

 

“Right, right.”

 

Vivi looked back and questioned, “What?”

 

“Nothing Vivi, continue.”

 

“Okay… I guess then was about the time that I saw the sunflower, inching its way across ground. I just got… so… furious with it! With a flower! That I…”

 

“That you?”

 

“… Stepped on it.”

 

“You WHAT!?”

 

Vivi swerved at the booming sound of Mystery’s voice. Lewis flinched and reared back, “What? What’s so bad about it?”

 

“Why do you think Shiromori is so powerful using the flowers?”

 

“Because they represent people?” Was this a trick question?

 

“How do they represent people?”

 

“I don’t know!”

 

Mystery buried his snout beneath his paws with a sigh, “They’re soul flowers!”

 

“Soul flowers?’

 

“Oh! I think I’ve read about those!” Vivi piped up, “They’re like flowers that are connected to your soul right? They represent your innermost being?”

 

Mystery nodded, “That’s correct. And Shiromori just happens to have control over them.”

 

“So what?”

 

“You’ve crushed Arthur’s soul flower.”

 

“…. Come again?”

 

“You, Lewis Pepper, have crushed Arthur Kingsmen’s soul flower. His innermost being.”

 

“That’s bad isn’t it?”

 

“I don’t believe it was as bad as we think. However, if we don’t regrow it soon he’ll revert into a state that will be irreversible. He’ll never be the same Arthur ever again.”

 

“Oh… Wait how is it not as bad?”

 

“Since Shiromori grew the flower from your anchor it means it revolves around you and the memories you two shared. It’s why his memories of you were practically completely erased in a matter of minutes.”

 

“Great so he doesn’t remember me. So what? Why regrow it if that’s all it is?”

 

“Lewis… Arthur no longer has ANY memories of you. It will completely change his personality. He’ll be withdrawn, fearful, panicked… He’ll probably fall back into his depression. Worse than usual mind.”

 

“… oh.”

 

Vivi sniffled, shaking slightly, “You fucked up didn’t you Lewis?”

 

“ _Lo siento._ I… Vivi?”

 

“I… I don’t understand!” She gripped the steering wheel tightly, knuckles turning white, “You talk like Lewis… You know things like Lewis… Your name IS Lewis… But you’re just not acting like the little bit like the Lewis I remember… What are you? _Who_ are you?!”

 

“I…”

 

Something slammed into the side of the van, causing it to rock to the side and the occupants (minus Arthur) to shout in surprise. Vivi quickly righted the van and glanced in the rearview mirror.

 

“She’s gaining and throwing things at us!” she shrieked.

 

Lewis reared around, “Quick; how do we grow a new soul flower for Arthur!?”

 

“We’ll need to get a seed from Shiromori and then use a special spell to connect Arthur’s brittle soul to it.”

 

“You can perform it?”

 

“No but Vivi can!”

 

Vivi glanced at them in the mirror, “I’ll do anything to help one of my best friends!”

 

“Great! How do we get the seed?”

 

“Well we’ll-”

 

Vivi screamed at that moment. It was all the warning the two had before something crashed into the van hard enough to send it spiraling of the side of the road. It rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop on it’s side. Lewis landed flat on his stomach, just barely missing one of the shelves in the van. He had hit his skull (and every other bone of his make-up) at least three times the world was spinning and he was in quite a bit of pain for being dead. He could hear Vivi, who had the seatbelt on, calling for him and Mystery. Mystery was out cold on top of him, a dead weight on his back. The blond hair of Arthur caught his attention though. Red was streaked through it. A head wound, Lewis deduced. His face was turned away but he could tell that Arthur was still out, gone to the world. His metal hand lay limp at the side of his head, confirming his deductions. He reached out for it out of instinct. The pain was too great though.

 

He dropped his hand and retreated into his anchor with a hiss.

 

~.~

 

Several miles away, the truck sat abandoned, now returning to normal without the influx of magic attached to it. It completely its reverse transformation just as someone walked over the edge of the hill, who’s eyes widened at the sight of it.

 

“My truck!” Rooster screamed, racing over to it.

 

He hopped into the cabin and with a grin, attempted to start it. However, no matter how hard he tried, it would not crank.

 

“Aw!” he bemoaned, letting his forehead hit the steering wheel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank to buddybuddy kyrana for proofing as usual.  
> I <3 you friend!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my buddy Bunnii for Beta Reading for me.


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